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I’ve been a fan of medieval history and the renaissance for years, enamored with the pageantry and chivalry, the poetry and the art. It’s all pretty fascinating. This also explains my obsession with shows like Game of Thrones or The Tudors. In fact, the very first time I ever tried to roleplay in Second Life was on the medieval sim of Avalon. I admit it didn’t last too long, but I’ve always appreciated the RPing community in SL and can definitely see the draw for people to play.

Thanks to events like We ❤ Roleplay and the Fantasy Gacha Carnival, you now have places to shop featuring some of the best RP content creators offering new items monthly! I hadn’t ever been to the Fantasy Gacha Carnival before and was pleasantly surprised at all the beautiful creations. Being a gacha event, it’s definitely a money-sucker, but if you’re determined you can come out with some pretty amazing stuff. I was inspired by so many of the things I saw, my brain was bursting with ideas. In addition this round of We ❤ Roleplay was chocked full of awesome designs. I had to visit the Linden ATM before my trip was done.

The photos I have done here were inspired by and centered around the [bauwerk] Banquet table that is available at the Fantasy Gacha Carnival. I imagined a grand castle banquet hall lit with torches and candlelight, adorned in tapestries and banners, a table full with bountiful feast and the more I shopped, the more it came together. {Junbug}‘s lovely period dress from We ❤ Roleplay was the perfect clothing choice for such a merry feast.

One item that I want to show off to you that isn’t from either event, however, is this gorgeous necklace from an up and coming store called Empyrean Forge. The details and texturing are very well done, and I’m pretty picky about my mesh. And definitely about my jewelry. So I was quite impressed with this piece and looking forward to seeing more from them. They have a few items out on marketplace currently and I’ve been told many more to come in the next several weeks.

I may not be a hardcore RPer but you don’t have to be to enjoy all these goodies. For me it’s just about imagination and playing dress up from time to time.

It’s been wayyyy to long since blogging last. And oh how I’ve missed it. Perhaps I missed shopping in SL more… and I more than made up for my time away. Trying to catch up on all the events I’ve missed since being buried in schoolwork proved to be a lot of work, if you count opening and closing my virtual wallet work.

Joking aside, I was glad I made it back just for the tail end of The Liason Collaborative‘s Tuscanny round. And though it’s ending soon, these items from TLC: The Boutique, The Garden, and Poser Pavilion will all still be available in their stores after the 15th. In addition to the beautiful scenery, I have a very cute new dress from GizzA called “Cookie” that can be worn alone or as I’ve done pairing it with some skinny capris from Coquet. I love that this dress is HUD controlled to change to different colors and there are several styles available as well as the floral I’m wearing. Definitely helps the inventory and mine can take all the help it can get. Belleza has also just recently put out their full line of Ria Skins. Lastly gotta give credit to Mr. Truth Hawks for consistently bringing us beautiful hair.. the man must be a machine. This style called “Elyse” is just one of the many new hairs he’s put out lately and I love it’s playful casual look.

I hope to be able to blog more again now that my spring classes are at an end… going to enjoy all the pretty things of SL! I hope you’re enjoying them as well. ❤ Happy Shopping!

I have a confession…I fell in love. I couldn’t not have it. The dress, that is. I mean, I’ve been in love with Zaara Kohime’s designs for years, but this NEW Suhina dress… I knew it must be mine. In fact, I’ve rarely taken it off since getting it because… well just look at it. It’s gorgeous. It’s sparkly sequin like fabric shimmers wrapped around me and it paired perfectly with her Atiriya jewelry pieces. It comes in many other just as lovely colors, but with me sporting blonde hair these days, and my favorite grey Promise Eyes from IKON, the grey faded to aqua gown was the perfect choice. I decided to take this pic and use another love of mine… Bokeh. I’m sure if you look at many of my photos you’ll see that it’s a commonly used effect. (DON’T HATE ON MY BOKEH) I just love the soft, romantical whimsy it gives. This particular choice of bokeh I loved for the shimmery effect. You can find bokeh brushes pretty easily (deviantart.com is a great source) and create your own effects in PS, or a texture that you can overlay on the image. I used a combination of both for my pic here.

And since Miss Strawberry Singh decided to do a Black and White Portrait Challenge for her meme this week, I took a close up version to de-saturate and play along. I don’t actually do very many black and white portraits. If I do, I tend towards the vintage look and sepia. It takes some mastering I think to get a photo to pop when you do it in black and white. Contrast is key. I tend to up the contrast slider much more on a black and white than I would on a colored photo.

More Coldlogic, people! And ok, yes I know the irony in this pic is humorous considering I am not the ‘Nun-ly’ type. But I couldn’t help that when I saw this outfit at ColdLogic, it was the first inspiration that came to mind and I just ran with it. Matched with Maxi Gossamer’s rosary-looking cross chains, and I feel like the modern Nun. No offense intended to those of Catholic faith, but I have heard stories of what happens when you were out of line and the head mistress had to break out her ruler. 😛 Best behave in my classroom I think!

As an aside, I didn’t take the photo at any convents in SL (and I didn’t bother to look really) because the old classroom style I was looking for was easily found at the Mischief Managed sim. If you haven’t been to visit yet, it really is a must-see especially if you love Harry Potter. But even if you don’t, there is plenty to appreciate about the intricate details of this build. So go check it out!

As promised I have some more newness from ColdLogic to show off to you. I decided to also make it a part of Strawberry Singh’s Autumn Challenge Meme by answering a few quick questions on the subject of “Fall”. I hope everyone’s enjoying the start to October!

Is autumn your favorite season? Why or why not? – Yes, most definitely without a doubt. I grew up in Michigan and so Autumn was a bigger deal and lasted much longer than the Fall season I get in Virginia now. I am just a cooler weather girl… I love my warm sweaters and jeans and sitting around a fire with some hot cocoa. I would opt for this over hot, sweaty summer any day. 😛

Do you call it Autumn or Fall? – I use them both really.

What kind of weather does your area get during this season? – It’s mostly sunny and mild in the high 60s or low 70s. Much warmer than I prefer for this season, but as long as I can wear a sweater I’m happy.

Which color do you always associate with autumn? – Rusty Orange

Which Autumn themed sim is your favorite at the moment? – Mine? kidding! lol.. I haven’t really gotten a chance to see all of them out there. But the newly renovated Floorplan sim where I took these pics is on the top of my list right now. As well as Vespertine’s. So many details put into these beautiful locations.

The word Fall or Autumn usually conjures up all sorts of wonderful imagery of warm inviting colors and falling leaves blowing across a winding road in a cozy wooded valley; the smell of burning wood as fires are stoked and chimneys start smoking; wooley sweaters, comfy jeans, and boots to combat the new briskness in the air; the little chill on our noses that can be easily remedied by bring a nice warm cuppa something up to our lips. Granted, my love of coffee goes beyond just one season, but this time of year is certainly special… in a word, PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE. Ok so that’s three words. Three very important words that always make me smile and my belly warm. Anyone that knows me well, has probably figured out that I’m quite the pumpkin lover. I tend to salivate over anything with pumpkin in it… breads, cookies, muffins, pies, pasta, soups, ice cream even. And of course… COFFEEEEE! So when {What Next} introduced this new Cocoa-on-the-Go Cart that actually dispensed my favorite autumnal drink?!?!.. you can imagine the squeeing that went on behind my closed office door. I was one happy girl.

I must also mention that in addition to great coffee, I am also excited to be slipping into my jeans and sweaters finally, and ColdLogic has just released some wonderful fall basics to mix-n-match. I paired my skinny jeans with the adorable new booties from Fri.day with the optional sock tops. Finally ones that I can wear with my mesh jeans! This is only the first of a few outfits I will show off to you.

Many thanks to Ms. Harlow Heslop‘s beautiful landscaping of “The Grounds” where I took this pic, home to the Pixel Bean Coffeehouse. If you’ve never been, go check it out, as it’s truly one of my favorite places for hanging out, relaxing, and meeting new people. There are periodic music events going on and always tons of fun. It very much reminds me of the type of coffeehouses I used to frequent back in my college days and listen to some live bands such as the one I posted below.

Now if you’ll excuse me I have a pumpkin muffin staring me down. Enjoy your Monday!

High dive into frozen waves where the past comes back to lifeFight fear for the selfish pain, it was worth it every timeHold still right before we crash ’cause we both know how this endsA clock ticks ’til it breaks your glass and I drown in you again

‘Cause you are the piece of me I wish I didn’t needChasing relentlessly, still fight and I don’t know why

If our love is tragedy, why are you my remedy?If our love’s insanity, why are you my clarity?

I am featuring a mix of items from a number of events going on in SL right now. My beautiful Leila skin from Belleza is still available atThe Arcadetil the end of the month. And if you haven’t had a chance to check out The Seasons Story yet, definitely go have a look! I was so very impressed with all the fabulous creations on sale there. You’re sure to see much more from there in my future posts. Lastly, the latest round at The Boutique just opened a few days ago with lots of New York 5th Avenue styled fashions. My favorite buys were definitely these lacey booties for my Slink feet and my new IKON Perspective eyes in “Clarity” – the inspiration for my post in both color and name.

If there’s one thing I love about The Arcade, there’s usually never a shortage of absolutely delicious foodie things! This year was no exception with PILOT‘s very inspiring Candy Bar and Milk & Cookies Bar sets! Add to that, digging through my inventory and finding many past arcade items such as the Pastry Mania set from Tres Blah, and I knew there was a Sweet Shoppe theme about to happen. So one mini-city build later, here we are in my very own Candy-Crush-worthy scene surrounded by all the sugary goodness one could hope for. And did I mention lots of PINK??? I’m a girl who loves pink and I don’t care who knows it. Plus all this gave me an excuse to go buy the super sweet Sunday tee over at DRIFT which was perfect for my yummy pic. Have I made you hungry yet with all my food references? Here, Eat a Cupcake! 😀

Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I have some frosting on my lips to clean up. *blushes*

Do you get hit by inspiration in the middle of ordinary everyday tasks? Well I do, particularly in the shower. (sorry if that’s TMI) Maybe it’s because that’s when I have the most time to just think uninterrupted. And originally as much as I thought all the items at this latest round of The Garden event were super cute and creative (I mean, how can you not love laser blasters and green alien lawn decor?!) no ideas were immediate on how to blog ALL THE THINGS! Then, one day, in the middle of rinsing my shampoo, this scene came to me. It made me giggle to myself, and I do hope the irony isn’t completely lost on you, the audience. Despite SL trying to keep me from completing my vision and crashing me upon every attempt to shoot this… I finally won.

Leave it to the kids to save the day, as the little green guys infiltrate this trailer park drive-in movie scene unbeknownst to Mom and Dad enjoying a little sci-fi movie of their own. Sometimes those 3D movies seem so real, or are they??

The Garden ends September 10th, so you still have time to get over there and get your Area 51 goodies!

Well it seems as though I’m going to attempt to kill many birds with one stone here. (Sorry little birdies!) I decided to use these photo(s) as a good example for Strawberry Singh’s Windlight Challenge. Though it may not be thee most creative of all windlights I use. I’ll explain why more later and maybe it still is of help to ‘someone’ out there. I’m also showcasing some items from The ARCADE, FaMESHed, and the upcoming Fifty Linden Fridays. I’m a busy girl.. gotta keep it movin.

So without further ado… here’s the Q&A:

Do you use windlight while taking pictures? If not, why not? Yes! I definitely do. I honestly would be lost without them. And have been. On occasion when updating my viewer didn’t take care to save my created Windlights and lost them when doing a clean install. I might’ve cried that day. So now I’m very careful as I rely on them for all my photos. I will share that my discovery of Windlight settings and subsequent falling in love was after coming across Elysium Eilde’s photography. Her vibrant and rich colors to her photos inspired me to get creative with my own.

When taking a closeup snapshot for a profile picture, which windlight preset do you use most often? I don’t really have a designated go-to windlight that i use for profile pictures. Most of the time, even when doing closeups in world, I will use whatever setting I’m using for a full body photo and just take care to adjust the time of day and sun angle to not cast too many shadows on the face that wash out the skin. If I’m shooting a photo in my makeshift studio then I select one of my pre-made Studio WLs that are probably tweaked from some of the default ones that came with the Firestorm viewer. (I’ve included some of those below).

Which windlight presets do you use for full body portraits? Again, I really do customize most every single one. It completely depends on the mood of the photo and the colors in the elements of the photo. Sometimes I really like to play up the sky coloring and make it something unusual and unexpected. Some examples of that are HERE and HERE and um… HERE too. 🙂

If you do landscape photography, which windlights do you use for that most often? I rarely do landscape photography, but as I mentioned before, playing with the coloring of the sky can really create a dramatic backdrop for any photo. If possible I love to use sunset, or sunrise windlights to set a mood when doing landscape pictures. I will agree Annan Adored’s windlight settings are very dramatic. And as Berry mentioned, sometimes just using the default sim windlight is enough. Usually the person that created the environment, chooses a windlight to set the tone for the sim and enjoying it in its original state is great.

Do you have any tricks or tips that you could share for using Windlight effectively? My tip is play with all the buttons. Definitely the sun/moon position and angle and for me the sun brightness and ambient lighting are the most commonly modified. Although lately, I have been working on playing with the density and haze horizon settings more to give that far off faded look to things in the distance. I’ve also found that making sure to lock the clouds helps avoid certain graphics glitches when shooting photos with shadows and ambient occlusion on. You can also adjust the color of the clouds and really give your photos a very different two-toned look in the sky. And lastly, don’t just play with the sky settings…. if you’re shooting over where there is water, don’t forget to take that into consideration as well. Like my above photo, having reflection in the water adds a lot of realism to photography in Second Life.

Have you created any windlights that you would be willing to share with us? I do. And I’ve uploaded several of them HERE for you to try out, including the “Midday Hazy Blue” sky and “Glassy with Waves” water settings I used for the photos in this post. Please keep in mind though that this picture was post-processed and I did add a lot of contrast and brightness as well as de-saturated it some to get the final look.

I hope that I was able to give a little more insight into how I achieve the look in some of my photos, and hopefully that is useful to some of you as you experiment. I am so very glad to have access to so many wonderful windlights built into the Firestorm viewer that they really do give a great base to start from and to the many other photographers who have so graciously shared their custom settings for us to try too. 😀

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